SSRI's/sleeplessness/bi-polar meds?

October 20, 2009

Hi, I haven't posted in a while. My daughter is 18 now, a senior in high

school. She is having a very hard time with finding medication(s) to

help her OCD and depression. The SSRI's (like Prozac) cause her to not

be able to sleep at all, even with a sleep medication. That's

unfortunate, because her OCD and her mood were so good on the SSRI's...

for the first time in her life, she was happy and active and outgoing.

She was so happy and active that her doctor thought she was becoming

hypomanic at one point. He said she might have a tendency toward being

bi-polar and that the SSRI's could push someone with this tendency into

a manic state and cause them to develop full-blown bi-polar disorder

when they ordinarily wouldn't have. So, he took her off the SSRI and put

her on Lamictal (lamotrigine). But her depression has been getting much

worse since then. So, he decided to add back a little of the SSRI, but

then she couldn't sleep again.

Has anyone else in the group had a child who reacted to the meds in this

way? (Not being able to sleep at all... even with sleep meds? And then

becoming hypomanic?) If so, what did you do?

Any suggestions or advice from anyone would be appreciated. We're just

about at our wits end. I was really hoping we could get her medications

regulated before she starts to college next year.

Recommended Posts